


The Eye of Metis

by thaliabutt (advictorem)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ancient Greece, F/F, F/M, Femslash, M/M, Thalia is a stud, Theyna - Freeform, Time Travel, Unrequited Crush, percabeth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-03-19 01:50:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13694373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/advictorem/pseuds/thaliabutt
Summary: After stumbling across an ancient prophecy in the Big House attic, Thalia is convinced she's meant to fulfill it. When Nico accidentally gets sent back in time, Thalia knows it's her destiny to save him.Multiple POV. Femslash and Slash.70% AU: Bianca survived the Titan’s Curse, but she lost one of her arms while defeating Talos. Hephaestus fashioned her a highly-functional metal arm. Reyna and Hylla are ancient Amazons. Takes place sometime after the Last Olympian but before the Lost Hero.





	1. The Prophecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this when I was a baby. Enjoy.

Percy coughed as dust flew into his mouth, frustrated that Chiron had assigned the children of the Big Three to clean out the old attic. He, Thalia, and Nico had gotten into a bit of an argument during the last game of Capture the Flag, and now they were paying the price. So what if they had destroyed most of the playing grounds? Grass could grow back, water could be returned to the creek, and the immobile skeleton warriors could be swept up.

Besides, it had been Thalia's fault anyway. If the daughter of Zeus had just stuck to her assigned station, Percy never would have gotten an attitude with her in the first place. Naturally, just like everyone who dared to cock an attitude with Thalia, Percy wound up on the ground with his clothes smoking.

"Still blaming me, I see," she said suddenly, sending Percy her trademark smirk. Every time he saw it, the son of Poseidon wanted to knock it off her face. "That's fine. I mean, I'm not the one that insulted you first, but whatever."

Percy matched her expression perfectly. "You are the one that summoned a flock of birds to do your dirty work."

"It was an accident!"

"Sure it was."

Thalia scoffed. "If we were in the ocean, you would have sent a bunch of murderous dolphins after me."

"Would you two stop?" Nico snapped. "You got us into this mess, and I'm not about to be punished again for something you idiots started."

Thalia scowled, obviously resisting the urge to punch Nico in the face. Percy knew that expression well.

"Sorry, Nico," Percy mumbled.

When Thalia acted too prideful and wasn't making a move to apologize as well, Percy elbowed her roughly.

With a roll of her eyes, she grunted, "Yeah, sorry."

"Yeah, yeah," Nico dismissed, finally releasing the long breath of air he had been holding. He looked calmer now as he began to clear off a shelf.

Percy sighed, both annoyed and tired of his situation. His sea green eyes darted around the dusty, cluttered attic before they landed on a golden chest. Curiosity picked at him, and he impulsively walked towards it. He paid no attention to his surprisingly silent friends. He wiped the ancient dust off the lid, before his fumbling hands reached for the lock. Percy wrapped his hand around it, giving it a tug. It was still surprisingly strong and holding tightly.

He felt himself falling to the floor, and glared up at the towering figure of the daughter of Zeus. Without bothering to apologize to him, she grabbed the lock in her own hands and closed her eyes. With a firm yank, the lock was ripped away and she threw it to the floor.

"Move aside, Jerkules," Percy jibed, sitting back up on his knees and lightly nudging her away from the chest. She scowled and pushed him back, but the two of them ceased bickering for the moment.

"Open it," Thalia muttered impatiently.

That seemed to have gotten Nico's attention. The son of Hades watched the events unfold from behind them, trying to appear uninterested.

Percy grunted as he slowly but surely managed to open the chest. He had no trouble believing that it was from ancient times, as it was filled to the brim with spider webs and stunk of its age—besides, almost everything in the attic was thousands of years old.

Thalia dug out a hunting knife from her boot and impaled a large spider, all the while wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Thank the gods that Annabeth isn't here to see this thing."

Percy could only silently second her comment. He started to swipe away the webs, surprised that Thalia actually helped him.

She scowled—an expression that perfectly matched the one that her father always wore. She reached into the old chest fearlessly, and her fingers wrapped around the length of a strange roll of paper. She pulled it out, immediately loosening the black thread that was holding it closed.

"It's a scroll," she spoke, almost sounding entranced.

"Gods, what's wrong with you?" Percy asked sarcastically, reaching into the chest for something more interesting. "Way to be a daughter of Athena."

Nico dug out a weird stone tablet, imprinted with foreign markings. "This isn't even in Greek."

"Neither is this," Thalia responded, her eyes narrowing at the worn parchment in her hands. "Well…not the Greek we know. It's Mycenaean."

"Isn't that—?" Nico started to ask.

"The oldest form of the Greek language," Percy muttered, finishing the youngest demigod's sentence. When the other two glanced at him questioningly, and Thalia arched that mocking eyebrow of hers, Percy rolled his eyes. "What? Don't be so surprised. I know things!"

"Annabeth?"

"Annabeth," Percy answered with a resigned sigh.

Nico slid down onto the floor, crossing his legs. He peeked over Thalia’s shoulder, his eyes struggling to decipher the obscure characters painted on the scroll. "Thalia, you know more written Greek than we do. Can you read it?"

Her brow furrowed in concentration. She surprised them all when she spoke. "Heroes called forth by the…the fate of men and nations shall venture to lost…tits?"

"I haven't learned much Greek," Nico cut in, "but I'm thinking you read it incorrectly."

Thalia seethed, but turned her attention back to the scroll. It was obvious that she was trying to see where she went wrong with her translation. "Oh," she said plainly, embarrassed. "Lost _lands_. My bad."

Percy laughed at her expense, and Nico cracked a small smile.

"How do we know that you read the rest correctly?"

"It's not my fault that whoever wrote this happened to have horrid handwriting," she defended, although she reread the scroll just in case. "Besides, what do we care anyway? This scroll is probably some old prophecy.”

"Just keep reading the scroll!" Nico urged. When he received strange looks, he shrugged. "What? It got interesting."

"Whatever," Thalia mumbled, before her eyes studied the parchment once more. "They will seek the aid of a soul long passed."

"A soul long passed?" Percy repeated. "Like, a ghost?” He looked to Nico. “That’s your specialty.”

Thalia punched him in the chest for interrupting, causing him to grab his amazingly sexy pecs in pain. Hey, a boy could dream, couldn't he?

“One will depart with a dangerous hand,” Thalia began again. She paused. “Both of my hands are pretty dangerous.”

Percy outwardly agreed, still rubbing his chest.

"Children!"

The three demigods pounced from the floor, spinning around quickly to see Chiron.

“Get away from that!" he ordered, and Nico hurriedly shoved the tablet back inside and closed it. "I specifically told you to clean the attic—not go rummaging around in it!"

"Sorry, Chiron," Thalia stated nonchalantly. "It was all Percy's idea."

"Hey!"

Nico, thankfully, did not take Thalia's side. He looked to the wall, obviously avoiding their wise instructor's gaze.

The centaur seemed to calm himself, although his eyes did not stop watching Thalia's overtly nonchalant behavior. "Very well. Just…just don't go searching through that chest again. Come now. It is time for dinner."

In minutes, they were exiting the Big House and making their way to their tables.

"I'll meet you in your cabin after the lights go out," Thalia mumbled to Percy, her eyes flickering to Nico. "You might want to tag along, kid."

"Why?" the son of Hades asked, but she was already distanced from them. “She’s so great at communicating.”

Percy laughed at the obvious sarcasm. "You get used to it.”

"What do you make of that chest?"

“We’ll talk about it later, Nico,” he repeated Thalia’s earlier statement. “After dark.”

Nico didn’t look satisfied but it was enough to get him to stop prying. They parted ways, Percy bravely going to sit next to Annabeth, and Nico wandering off to wherever he went to eat dinner.

* * *

Thalia almost looked as stern as her father, Percy noticed, as she paced through his cabin. He felt like she could have a thick beard, too.

“Is this really a good idea?” Nico implored.

Percy scratched behind his head. “Sometimes…doing the right thing means breaking the rules a little.” He shot Thalia a meaningful look. They were both prime examples of that.

“There’s some reason Chiron doesn’t want us to finish reading that scroll,” Thalia continued. “Almost like…”

She didn’t want to say it.

“Almost like the prophecy hasn’t happened yet,” Percy finished for her. “Do you think…?”

“I think,” Thalia agreed, nodding her head solemnly. “There’s a reason we found that scroll. It can’t be a coincidence.”

As Percy knew, the word _coincidence_ wasn’t even in the Demigod Dictionary.

“You think we’re supposed to be the heroes in the prophecy?” Percy questioned.

It sounded plausible; he had already been the hero in a couple major prophecies, but Thalia was one to jump the gun on a lot of things. She was surer of herself. Once she got her mind set on something, she tended to run away with it.

“But why wouldn’t Chiron want us to go on a quest?” Nico asked, looking to them almost rapidly for answers. “The prophecy didn’t sound too dangerous.”

“It literally had the word dangerous in it,” Percy argued.

“Chiron has his reasons, I’m sure.” Thalia ran her hand through her hair. “But we know better than anyone not to waste time avoiding a prophecy,” she reasoned.

She hopped on Percy’s bed, making herself comfortable. Their eyes widened when she pulled a crisp roll of parchment from her leather jacket.

“The scroll?” Percy asked, surprised. “How did you—?”

“You learn tricks on the run,” she supplied quickly. Too quickly. The hidden statement behind her words was obvious to Percy—Luke had taught her a few things about stealing. That was yet another subject they could never talk about without killing each other. “We never got to finish reading the last bit of the prophecy. 

Part of Percy didn’t want her to finish reading it. With the unsure droll of her voice, he knew it wasn’t going to end on a favorable note.

“To recover the Eye, encased in frosted glass,” she rambled, halting as her eyes scanned ahead. “The child of the skies must bear a curse, and lose a blessing, for better or worse.”

“Child of the skies,” Nico repeated thoughtfully. “If it’s talking about you, it could mean you will lose the blessing of Artemis.”

Thalia snarled at him. “That’s not what it means.”

Percy wanted to agree with her. He could never see her being whisked away by some dude. Thalia could beat up most of the guys he knew. But what else could it mean?

With prophecies like these, anything could happen. There wasn’t always an obvious answer.

“It obviously implicates you,” Nico concluded. Percy thought a preteen shouldn’t use words quite that big, unless they were Annabeth.

“I’m going with,” Percy stated, glancing to Thalia. “I can’t let you go on your own.”

“Two children of the Big Three?” Nico always had to be the most level-headed. “Are you sure?”

“We could use three,” Thalia implied, eyes narrowing.

Percy shivered for him. Her glare was intimidating enough to make a serial killer run home to his mommy. Staring her down was just like being face-to-face with Aegis, the bracelet-masked shield she wore on her arm.

Nico glanced away. “Why would you want to take me? Shouldn’t you take Annabeth?”

“You’re strong, Nico,” Percy emphasized. “Three children of the Big Three? Well, that’s enough to make Kronos cry.”

His cheeks flushed. “Yeah, but, I’m not like you and Thalia.”

“That’s a good thing,” Percy said. “Who better to go on this quest?”

“Why don’t you take Bianca?” Nico suggested next. “She’s a child of the Big Three.”

Percy remembered Bianca. She had been a great asset in the quest to save Artemis. But she, like Thalia, was a hunter now. It was probably bad enough the Lieutenant, Thalia, was sneaking off to travel to the past. Two Hunters going missing? Well, Percy didn’t think he would like Artemis’ reaction to that.

Thalia's stance stiffened like she disagreed. Percy wondered what that was about. “Nothing says we can’t take four heroes.”

“You want me _and_ Bianca to go?” Nico inquired seriously. “You do realize we would be a ticking time bomb.”

“Fine,” Thalia spat, sliding off the bed. She made her way over to the door. “I’m going back to my cabin. This discussion isn’t over.”

Thalia gave Percy a look that he understood clearly— _convince Nico_.

Percy gulped, turning to look over at Nico, his black eyes narrowed in suspicion already.

That was easier said than done.

* * *

Thalia kicked her opponent in the face, knocking him out cold and ending their little sparring session. Cheers rang out around her and she turned slowly as she surveyed their enthused expressions. Well, apart from the children of Ares. Clarisse eyed her with a warrior’s admiration, but the rest of them glowered, collecting their brother Mark from the ground and tending to his wounds.

Thalia found a pair of dark eyes in the crowd and she unwillingly smiled, approaching Bianca and graciously accepting a small towel from her. She wiped the sweat from her brow.

She was about to say something incredibly not stupid—what? She was!—when Percy came barging in, flailing his arms around in a way that almost made her outright laugh. Thalia was a tad bit smarter than that, though. She knew he wasn’t afraid of much, so whatever spooked him was serious.

He ignored everyone else besides Thalia, and he came shuffling up to her, struggling for breath.

“Nico—” he panted, instantly making Bianca’s little ears perk up. “Gone—tried to stop him—went back to the chest—”

“Slow down,” Thalia commanded, hushing her voice, noticing that they were the center of attention now. She usually didn’t mind attention, but she wasn’t eager for everyone else to figure out their little secret. “Nico? Gone?”

“Follow me,” he managed, his sea green eyes flickering back and forth between Thalia and Bianca. He rushed out of the arena again.

As hunters, Bianca and Thalia were supernaturally faster than him. Percy ate their dust, but they tried to maintain his pace.

They ran until they reached the Big House. Once inside, noticing that Chiron and Dionysus were chatting over some steaming chili, they crept up the stairs to the attic.

“What’s this about Nico?” Bianca questioned worriedly.

“I tried talking Nico into a quest,” Percy explained.

They finally reached the attic. He held the door open for the Hunters. They shouldered him away, pushing their way into the attic.

Percy rolled his eyes. “He insisted on coming back into the attic to look for more clues. He doesn't think we're the heroes of the prophecy—”

“Whoa,” Bianca interrupted, raising her hand. Thalia was almost six-feet-tall but the smaller girl’s tone was almost enough to scare her. “Explain.” She looked at them both. “Now.”

“Remember that fight we got into yesterday?”

“The fight that _Thalia_ started,” Percy further explained, earning him another punch in the gut. He nearly doubled over. “Just sayin’.”

Thalia rolled her eyes.

Bianca nodded slowly. “Yeah, and Chiron made you guys come up here and clean.”

“Right,” Thalia said. “Well, we found an ancient prophecy in this chest. It said that heroes were supposed to be sent back in time.”

She waltzed right up to the chest and flipped the top open again. A few things seemed to be out of place. She saw something she hadn’t noticed before, lying directly in the center of everything else. It was an ancient battle horn. Her long, spear-calloused fingers wrapped around it.

“Thalia thought it might apply to us since we were the demigods who found it,” Percy said. “Nico didn’t think so.”

Bianca cut in impatiently, “What does this have to do with Nico? Where has he gone?”

Thalia eyed him harshly, silently asking the same question. Percy was beating around the bush.

Percy took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

 _Drama queen,_ Thalia thought. Normally, she would have voiced it aloud, but seeing as she didn’t want Bianca to know just how terrible of a person she really was, she kept her mouth shut.

“Nico picked that up,” he said, pointing to the battle horn in Thalia’s hands. “And he blew it.”

Thalia’s eyebrows scrunched. “And it made a really loud noise? Dionysus heard it, found him up here, and imprisoned him in a wine cellar?”

“Thalia,” he said, exasperated. “Nico was sent back in time.”

Wow.

So, did that mean she was right? They _were_ the heroes of the prophecy?

 _Now is not the time to be sucking your own dick,_ Thalia had to mentally remind herself.

The breath that Bianca released was tense—overwhelmed, surprised, stressed. Then her dark eyes steeled. It reminded her of the time Annabeth’s stepmother caught them eating ice cream in the kitchen at 3am when they had school the next day.

It was almost as if Bianca was thinking: _I told Nico to stay away from time-travel-inducing battle horns! He’s gonna be grounded for life after this!_

Thalia brushed that thought off. She did _not_ want to think about that again.

“We’re going to get him back,” Bianca said firmly, overcoming her shock before the other two demigods. “We’re not going to leave him there!”

“Of course not,” Thalia agreed. She awkwardly placed a supportive hand on Bianca’s shoulder, earning her a timid almost-smile. “We need to gather supplies. We don’t know what we’ll be traveling into.”

“Agreed.” Percy nodded. “I got some really yummy cookies I could bring, they have coconut—”

“Supplies, Kelp Head,” Thalia grunted. “We’re Hunters of Artemis. Finding food, no matter where we end up, won’t be a problem.”

“So…Riptide, ambrosia, nectar,” he listed. “SPF 50,000, probably an Ancient Greek dictionary—”

Thalia’s hand shot out and closed over his mouth. “Shut up, and go pack,” she spat. She slipped the horn into her jacket pocket. “Meet us at the strawberry fields when you’re done.”


	2. Into the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia, Percy, Annabeth, and Bianca travel back in time. And meet some unfriendly old friends.

Thalia sniffed a couple of her shirts, honestly not remembering if they had been washed. All her clothes smelled the same anyway—the lingering scents of monster dust, blood, and pine tree was kind of impossible to get rid of.

She packed mostly weapons—her hunting knives, her spear, disguised cleverly as a mace canister. She always wore Aegis on her wrist, and her bow sat snugly on her back.

As a last thought, her fingers fiddled with a gold locket. She would never be caught dead wearing it—it was far from her style. But it still meant a lot to her. Thalia flipped it open, smiling at the picture of Annabeth inside of it. It was a totally candid picture, taken at some museum in San Francisco. She sat on the railing in front of the entrance, her legs swaying in short tan shorts and her invisibility cap latched to her belt.

Her best friend. Annabeth. Could she really leave without telling her goodbye? What if they never made it back? What if there was no way back to the present?

Thalia tucked the locket into her punk leather jacket. She kept a lot of things in her jacket, she realized, feeling her fingers brush the battle horn, the scroll, a pack of blue Tic-Tacs, and her old Walkman.

Bianca was somewhere off to her left, packing smarter things like matches, rope, and water. Thalia sidled up next to her, bending down a great distance to whisper to her.

“I have to meet with Annabeth before we go,” she said, receiving only a simple nod in response. “You can wait here for me if you want.”

Annabeth was the one to open the door to her cabin. Naturally. The girl never slept.

“Thalia?” she asked tiredly, rubbing at her eyes. “What are you doing out so late? I swear, the harpies are going to eat you alive.”

She was quickly invited into the cabin. They walked into the back room to avoid waking any of Annabeth’s siblings.

“I came to say goodbye,” Thalia said flatly.

“Goodbye?” Annabeth looked genuinely bummed. “Is Artemis back for you already?”

Thalia couldn’t lie while looking into those eyes. “It’s not that. I’m going on a quest. Something came up.”

“ _Something came up_?” Annabeth repeated, incredulous. It sounded lame, even to her own ears. “What do you mean? Let me guess, Chiron knows nothing about this.”

“Nico is missing,” Thalia explained. “I’m going with Bianca and Percy to find him.”

“Nico goes missing all the time. Did Bianca think to check the Underworld?”

“He disappeared into the past, smart ass,” she tried her best to explain. “Ancient Greece, to be exact. When we had to clean the attic—”

“You went through the chest, didn’t you?” Annabeth asked knowingly. She sat down in an office chair, fiddling with her fingers almost nervously.

“You know about the prophecy?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “You know how I get when I’m curious.” She sighed. “I didn’t expect it to happen now, not with my friends.” Another breath. “I must go with you.”

“Annabeth, no.”

“I know it’s not good luck to take more than three. That hasn’t stopped us before,” Annabeth reasoned. “You have to go because you're Thalia, Percy has to go because he’s infuriating, and Bianca has to go because Nico is her brother.”

Thalia’s eyes narrowed defensively. “Back up. What do you mean—?”

“I have to go because you need me,” Annabeth cut her off for like the billionth time. She was probably the only person who could do that without receiving a terrifying glare. “Do you know anything about history?”

“Abraham Lincoln,” Thalia supplied. "He wrote the Constitution."

“Exactly.”

Thalia bit her lip. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Annabeth smiled grimly. “I have no choice. I can’t let you two get drawn and quartered in the streets of Troy, can I?”

“I mean you could,” Thalia said. “But it wouldn’t be very nice of you.”

It only took Annabeth about thirty seconds to get all her stuff together. She packed surprisingly light. Her duffel bag was easy for Thalia to carry, even with her own quest supplies.

Bianca and Percy were waiting for them in the strawberry fields, as promised. Percy looked almost relieved at the sight of Annabeth, but Bianca looked rather resigned. Thalia made a mental note to ask about that later. Now, they had to do some time-traveling.

“Everybody got everything?”

Percy nodded. “Plenty of sunscreen for everyone.”

Annabeth quickly latched onto Thalia’s left hand. Bianca exhaled unsteadily, tightly, taking hold of Thalia’s hips. Percy smiled unsurely, grabbing onto Annabeth’s hand and squeezing it for reassurance. Thalia dug the horn out of her jacket with her free hand, and without wasting any more time, she blew a puff of cold hair into it.

* * *

 

They woke up in a field. It was unlike anything Thalia had ever seen. It was a beautiful clearing, canopied by mighty, towering trees. She recognized some—poplar, pine, cypress, and some small shrubberies that donned vibrant flowers. Mountains loomed in the distance, circled by shorter, wider trees that looked dissimilar to the rest.

“Olive trees,” Annabeth supplied, noticing her stare. Her eyes were lit up like aluminum glinting in the sun, drinking up anything and everything they could see. “This is—this is amazing!”

Before any of the others could stop her, she ran freely towards a building constructed of pristine stone. It was the only semblance of human life in the clearing.

Thalia caught up to her without a problem, leaving behind a huffing Bianca and a slow Percy. Three years of training and he still couldn’t run?

“It’s a temple,” Annabeth remarked. She pressed her hand to the outside, tracing the miniscule details and emblazoned characters. She smiled at Thalia. “Artemis.”

Thalia glanced up. It was small as far as temples went. It certainly wasn’t any Parthenon, but it was remarkable. It was weird seeing temples on Earth that hadn’t been shoved to ruins. Even the temples on Olympus couldn’t quite compare. She knew Annabeth was most likely in Elysium. It was a historian’s wet dream.

Without saying anything, Thalia slipped past her friend and entered the temple. She was instantly chilled by the air and, even though she was the Lieutenant to Artemis, it felt strange. Like she wasn’t supposed to be there.

The walls were covered with Artemis’ likeness—small statues, sculptures, paintings, even sketches.

In the very center of the temple, an alter stood as tall as it possibly could, decorated with offerings—everything from fruits, to weapons, to—wait, was that a dead goat?

Thalia almost vomited on the spot, but she figured Artemis wouldn’t appreciate that. She swallowed back her disgust, turning her attention instead to the small round cakes resting at the base. They were topped with a circle of tiny torches, and they looked good enough to eat—a lot more appetizing than Grover’s long-lost cousin.

She sensed Annabeth’s presence behind her. “We’re in Athens,” she concluded in amazement. She pointed to the cakes. “Those are apmhiphontes, offerings from Athenians.”

“ _Shining all around_ ,” Thalia translated the Greek easily. “Like the moon.”

“Wow.”

Bianca’s voice. She was the only person who could successfully sneak up on Thalia.

Thalia heard Percy sliding up to the entrance.

“Don’t!”

He looked almost hurt at her outburst.

“You may be on Artemis’ good side back home,” she explained. “But if you step into her temple, I’m not sure you’ll live to apologize. Be a good seahorse. Wait outside.”

Bianca stuck her tongue out, her nose crinkling and causing her freckles to ripple across her face. “Yeah, no boys allowed.”

Percy grumbled something about _unfair_ , but he left them alone.

Annabeth looked proud. “In ancient times, gods took signs of disrespect a little more seriously. Ancient laws were different, weird, and a lot easier to break.”

Thalia scoffed. “I’ve seen Artemis punish boys for less.”

Bianca smirked. “Remember in Charlotte?”

She did remember. Artemis had been having a rough week, being pestered by Apollo nearly every day. It was so rough, she decided to turn an offending male into a granola bar. It was a reasonable punishment for observing her Hunt.

“So, Athens?” Thalia changed the subject, not wanting to explain Granola Gary—that’s what Bianca nicknamed him—to any of their friends. “Is this where Nico showed up?”

Annabeth contemplated that. “We can’t know for sure, but it would make the most sense. Were you thinking of Athens when you used the battle horn?”

Thalia shook her head.

“Where _is_ the horn?”

Glancing down, Thalia realized she no longer had it. Her eyes widened. How were they going to travel back?

“ _Accidenti,_ ” Bianca cursed in Italian. Thalia didn’t want to know what she said. “We’ll worry about getting back later. We need to find Nico.” She looked to Annabeth. “Where should we start?”

“Uh guys,” Percy interrupted. “We got company.”

For a demigod, company was _never_ a good thing.

Thalia rushed out, already activating her spear. And she stopped short of thrusting it into her old friend’s gut.

“Zoë?” she asked, mesmerized.

“Who are you?” The huntress spoke in Greek, but Thalia had understood every word. It was way easier to understand than Old English. “How do you know of me?”

A cluster of hunters formed behind her, amounting to about a dozen. Thalia had _way_ more. They were dressed in short, gold-trimmed chitons, and the glow of their bronze bracers nearly blinded her. Artemis was nowhere in sight. Thalia almost wished she was—Artemis would have made this confrontation a lot simpler.

“You are not from here,” Zoë continued, taking her aim off Percy, to his immense relief, and aligning it to the center of Thalia’s forehead. The height difference was hilarious. If Zoë were aiming any higher, she would’ve fallen backwards. And if there wasn’t an arrow aimed at her skull, Thalia would’ve laughed about it. “Speak.”

Annabeth, the best negotiator of the four of them, stepped forward carefully “We are friends of Artemis. Demigods. We mean no harm or disrespect to your Lady’s temple.”

Thalia wished her Greek was that good. She could cuss out a monster like nobody’s business, but she wasn’t as attuned to the friendlier words.

“You have brought a male to her temple,” Zoë accused, her teeth gritting. She was more bitter, her emotional wounds undoubtedly fresher. She probably hadn’t been in the Hunt for long, maybe 200 years or so. “She will punish you all.”

“Baklava Bianca,” she heard Bianca mutter to herself. “Tiramisu Thalia.”

It took everything in her not to laugh. Of course, the arrow pointed to her brain helped her to refrain.

“He did not set foot inside the temple,” Annabeth reasoned. “We are on a quest.”

That seemed to catch the old Lieutenant’s attention.

“A quest?” she repeated slowly. “For what?”

“An Eye,” Thalia stepped in, using the little Greek she did know. “We were sent back in time to find it.”

Zoë lowered her bow, frowning knowingly. “Follow me.” Her eyes flickered in disgust at Percy. “The male stays here.”

“What?” he protested. “Oh, c’mon!”

Arrows were aimed at him.

He put his hands up. “Okay, whatever!”

“Someone should stay with him,” Bianca muttered, her eyes knowingly flickering over to Annabeth.

“She knows the most Greek,” Thalia offered in defense, noticing the way Bianca scowled. What was her problem with Annabeth? “B, we’ll be right back. He’ll be fine.”

Bianca crossed her arms over her chest and glowered. It should have been scary, seeing as she was the daughter of death and dying and scary stuff, but Thalia couldn’t look past how cute it was.

The girls followed the hunters to their encampment, hidden deeply in the forest that surrounded the temple. Thalia expected to see the same familiar silver tents, set up with flat-screen televisions and fireplaces. Instead, the camp was composed of small wooden shelters, seemingly built by quick hands. There was a sizable fire pit in the very middle, and a couple hunters were already roasting small game.

Zoë ducked into the largest structure. They followed suit, taking a seat on the only place available—the ground.

“I have heard of this prophecy,” Zoë said. “I did not expect it to happen now. I suppose it makes sense. The gods have retreated. I have not hunted alongside Artemis for several moons now.”

“We are sorry for entering her temple,” Annabeth offered an apology, seeing that Zoë was just as tense. She didn’t realize what Thalia knew—that was just Miss. Tightly Wound Zoë, always distrusting and on edge.

“There are more pressing matters at hand,” Zoë responded. “You are lucky my goddess was not here to witness your trespassing.” Her eyes flickered to Thalia. “Alas, before I answer the questions I am sure you have, you must answer mine.”

“Of course,” Annabeth said.

“You are obviously Hunters,” Zoë stated. “I sense your blessing.”

Thalia subconsciously checked for her tiara, shocked to find that it wasn’t on her head. She saw it perched on Zoë, like it had been for thousands of years. Is that why her tiara disappeared? Because it was the very same that Zoë possessed? She continued to feel Artemis’ blessing coursing through her veins—she felt just as strong and fast, and her senses were twice as sharp.

She was slightly relieved it was gone—it meant less explaining she would have to do to Zoë. How was Thalia supposed to explain to Zoë that she died at the hands of her own father? That Thalia was her successor? Wasn’t there some kind of unspoken rule about informing people in the past about events in the future? Hadn’t Hal taught her a little something about that?

“Who are your godly parents?”

“Hades,” Bianca answered, receiving a wide-eyed glance.

“Annabeth, Daughter of Athena.”

Thalia swallowed a bit roughly, knowing where this was headed. She wondered if she was going to get the same response she got all those years ago. “Thalia, Daughter of Zeus.”

Zoë’s jaw clenched. “I thought so.”

At least she didn’t scoff it this time.

“And the male with you?”

“Poseidon,” Bianca said. “Three children of the Big Three.”

“This is not good,” Zoë warned. “You do know what you risk?”

Thalia shook her head. “Not at all actually. Would you like to fill us in, Nightshade?”

She received a slap from Bianca. Thalia was grateful that she could only reach her shoulder.

“If any heroes are skilled enough to retrieve the Eye, it is the three of you,” Zoë complimented, undeterred by the English words. “It is wise that you have brought Annabeth. Only a daughter of Athena can unlock the tomb that holds the Eye.”

“What is the Eye?” Bianca asked. “You all keep mentioning it.”

“The Eye of Metis,” Zoë provided.

“Metis was Zeus’ first wife,” Annabeth explained. “The Titan of wisdom. She birthed Athena. Zeus devoured her, in fear that she would birth him a son that would become more powerful than him.”

Thalia’s nose wrinkled. _Thanks for not swallowing me whole, Dad._

“The Eye sees everything,” Zoë continued. “It advises. Anyone who has fought with it in their possession has succeeded.”

“So…” Thalia trailed off. “Like a magic eight ball?”

“Magic what?” 

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to her.”

“Where is it?” Bianca asked. “Why hasn’t anyone else found it? Why is it in a tomb?”

It was whenever Bianca asked a million questions that Thalia remembered she _was_ Nico’s sister.

“Ares gifted it to King Eryx,” Zoë replied. “It got passed around the hands of warlords, who used its powers to ravage lands and enslave villages. Zeus saw its power was being abused, and so he cast it into a tomb, impenetrable by man.”

“Where does she come in?” Bianca retaliated, motioning to Annabeth with her head. “You said only a daughter of Athena can unlock it.”

“The tomb was hidden and designed by Athena.”

“Meaning riddles, booby traps, and a final exam before we can find it,” Thalia guessed.

“I do not know these words,” Zoë acknowledged. She looked to Annabeth. “What is she saying?”

“Nothing, Grandma,” Thalia grumbled. “So, you don’t know where the tomb is?”

Zoë shook her head. Then she paused. “Perhaps…”

“What?”

“There is someone who studies the legend. If anyone knows of its location, it is her,” Zoë elaborated. “I have met her only once.”

“Who is she?”

She looked hesitant to suggest. “She is Hippolyta, daughter of Ares, Queen of the Amazons.”

Amazons?

Annabeth froze. “Hippolyta?”

Was that supposed to be significant somehow?

Annabeth looked to Thalia. “Maybe this isn’t the best idea. You shouldn’t try to reason with her.”

Zoë’s face turned grim. “Hippolyta is born of war, but she is no fool. She will be distrusting of this one, but she will reserve her judgement. I have no doubt that she will hear her out. She was always…more susceptible to charm.”

Thalia didn’t want to understand that.

Bianca made that face she always did when she didn’t like something. Her eyebrows scrunched a little, her nose wrinkling in on itself. Her lips pouted forward only slightly. “Thalia needs to charm this _Amazon_?”

Zoë eyed her curiously. “The path you are headed, Bianca—it is not wise.”

Bianca’s cheeks flushed, her fists clenching. “I’m just saying.”

Thalia held up a hand. “Whoa, what’s going on?”

She felt like she was at a party, and she didn’t know anyone there, and they were all talking around her about things she didn’t know.

Annabeth smiled in curiosity. “Does Artemis allow that?”

Zoë’s eyes twinkled. “As Hunters, we revoke the romantic company of men.”

Thalia didn’t miss the subtle use of the word _men_.

Instantly, it all clicked in her head.

Hippolyta. Charm. Thalia. Romance.

She couldn’t help but smirk. She turned teasing eyes to Bianca.

“You trying to enjoy my romantic company?” Thalia asked confidently. “All you had to do was ask.”

She didn’t think it possible for Bianca to turn any redder.

“Shut up,” Bianca argued. “I was—I was talking about the Amazon.”

“So, I have to charm the pants off some Amazon?” Thalia summarized. She would stop teasing…for now. She looked back to Zoë. “Just point me in the direction.”

Zoë grumbled something about _children of Zeus_ , but dug a papyrus map out of her satchel. After making some markings on the map, she surrendered it to Annabeth. Thalia almost felt insulted, but she knew deep-down that Annabeth was the better navigator. She remembered her at age seven, interpreting the road maps better than Luke or Thalia ever could. Before Annabeth showed up, they just followed a goat with Diet Mountain Dew stored in her mammary glands.

“This is far,” Annabeth noted. “Is there any way you can help us?”

Zoë shook her head. “I have helped you as much as I can. Your fate is up to the gods.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Thalia huffed. She stood up, taking the map from Annabeth’s hands and frowning at the distance. Why couldn’t they have brought a car with them to Ancient Greece?

“There are wild horses,” Zoë remarked. “Perhaps the boy can tame some for the journey.”

Great, they had to rely on Percy.

Annabeth and Bianca exited the tent together, but Thalia stayed behind. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had missed Zoë, a lot more than she thought she would. It felt almost surreal to be in her presence again, like she was walking amongst the constellations.

“Because of laws, I can only interfere so much without my goddess’ permission,” Zoë spoke when Thalia was suddenly afraid her voice wouldn’t work. “But I promise you, huntress, if you call upon me, the Hunt will be behind you.”

“Thank you, Zoë,” Thalia replied genuinely.

“Are we friends?” Her question took Thalia completely off-guard. “In the future, do we hunt alongside one another?”

“Something like that.”

Zoë smiled like the answer didn’t surprise her. It was one of the few times Thalia had seen it, and it was beautiful. “Safe travels, daughter of Zeus.”

As she left the tent, she remembered the second line of the prophecy.

_And seek the aid of a soul long passed_.

 


	3. Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bianca comes forth about her little crush on Thalia.

It had taken a while, but Percy had been able to secure two horses for them. Bianca wrapped her arms around Thalia’s waist, squeezing as tight as her strength would allow. Horses weren’t fond of them, so she already felt wrong riding on the back of one. Percy had assured her that the horses, Bucephalus and Agapios, weren’t gossiping, but the way the creatures nickered had Bianca thinking otherwise.

Agapios seemed too terrified of Thalia to fight her off. Bianca couldn’t blame him. She had seen Thalia in battle many times, and every time was just as intimidating as the last.

The horses slowed when they entered the outskirts of a small village. It was just like she pictured it would be. The ground below them was nothing but dirt, weeds, and grass, but there was a thin man-made stone walkway that seemed to lead into a market. The village was filled with small wooden houses, but there were a couple of stone buildings too—likely temples and houses for the wealthier villagers. There were all sorts of people trading and selling all sorts of goods. A man wearing nothing but a loincloth was attempting to trade some of his goatskins for wooden trinkets. He should have been trading them for some clothes, Bianca thought to herself.

At Percy’s suggestion, they paid an innkeeper to hold their horses in his stable. Thalia wasn’t sure how many drachmas to pay him, but they figured it couldn’t have been more than they paid for a t-shirt at camp.

“Let’s head to the agora,” Annabeth said.

As they walked further through the market, Bianca started to notice the stares. She knew they didn’t fit in. Her metal arm would have been the cause of much attention, had it not been carefully concealed by her silver parka and winter gloves.

Thalia was dressed like she always was—in that comfy leather jacket with punk rock pins on it, her silver camo, and her heavy combat boots.

The villagers seemed to recognize that something was special about them—they were powerful. Bianca reminded herself that they were now in a time that humans regularly mingled with demigods—a time before the Mist.

“How far are we from the Amazon camp?”

“Still really far, Thalia,” Annabeth responded impatiently. “Will you quit asking that?”

“C’mon,” Percy whined. “We’ve been walking forever. Anus said he’d hold our horses overnight, let’s rest.”

“Aeneas,” Bianca corrected.

Thalia laughed and she and Percy went back-and-forth making anus jokes.

“Fine,” Annabeth cut them off. “We’ll get some food, and then go back to the inn to rest.”

Bianca read a sign above a booth.

 **Ταγηνίτης**.

“Tagenites,” Annabeth said, as if Bianca couldn’t translate that clearly for herself. “So, like pancakes.”

“Pancakes?” Thalia repeated excitedly.

“Gross,” Bianca intercepted her Lieutenant. “Waffles are so much better.”

“Ah, the age-old debate,” Percy remarked dramatically. “Right under Pepsi or Coke.”

“Pepsi and Coke were invented in the late 1800’s,” Annabeth argued. “I would hardly call that an age-old debate.”

“How do you even know that?” Bianca asked. “Who even knows something like that?”

Annabeth looked almost offended. “I retain a lot of information.”

“What are you going to major in—Sodanomics?” Bianca replied heatedly.

She knew she shouldn’t have responded to Annabeth like that, especially if she wanted Thalia to like her.

But, that was kind of the issue.

How was she supposed to like Thalia, make Thalia like her back, and also tolerate Annabeth always being all over her? There was only so much envy Bianca could take. Who wouldn’t get jealous? Thalia always dropped everything for Annabeth. Like that one time, when Thalia was supposed to spend all afternoon helping Bianca practice archery and the daughter of Zeus decided she would much rather spar with Annabeth in the arena, wrestling on top of each other and laughing.

Bianca silenced her thoughts, realizing her faults once again.

_What is your Fatal Flaw, Bianca?_

_Oh, I have two! Holding grudges and being extremely jealous of prettier girls!_

Bianca half-expected Thalia to slit her throat for snapping at Annabeth. She was surprised when she reluctantly looked up into curious blue eyes, silently imploring her.

The look made her feel worse. She would have much preferred Thalia’s glare.

Bianca released a tight breath. Her dark eyes flickered up to meet Annabeth’s. “Sorry,” she grumbled. “I’m just worried about Nico.”

Annabeth nodded understandingly. “We’ll find him.”

Gods, why was she so nice to Bianca all the time?

Thalia flashed that little half-grin that drove her crazy, nudging Bianca. She seemed to buy the excuse. “You’re the best tracker the Hunters have.”

Bianca managed a smile. “I’m sure Phoebe holds that crown.”

After they all got their food and realized even the pancakes were delicious, which Thalia bragged about, they headed back towards the inn.

Out of earshot of Thalia and Annabeth, Percy sidled up next to Bianca and bent down to mutter to her.

“Hey, I’m not sure what that was back there,” he said, no doubt referencing her attitude. “But if you need to talk about it, I’m all ears.”

“Thanks,” she replied half-heartedly, distancing herself away from him and closer to Thalia.

_Ugh, boys._

* * *

Annabeth sighed, walking back towards the group after talking to the innkeeper in heated Greek. “He only has two rooms available.”

Thalia shrugged. “It’s okay. As long as you don’t mind sharing a room with Seaweed Brain.”

Annabeth’s nose scrunched. “Why can’t I share a room with you two? No offense, Percy.”

He looked pretty offended. “None taken,” he lied.

“We’re Hunters. We cannot lie with a man.”

“You sound like Zoë when you say it like that,” Thalia joked. “But she’s right. Percy can sleep out in the stables.”

“Hey!”

“What?” Thalia acted innocent. “You like horses!”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “There will be plenty of room for the three of us. Percy can have the other room to himself.”

Bianca wasn’t sure how she felt about being forced to share a room with Annabeth.

She sighed bitterly, following the others to their rooms.

* * *

“Can you sense Nico anywhere?”

Bianca shook her head. “I can’t—I think this whole time change is throwing me off. If I could sense him, I could just shadow travel to him, but it’s like this wall is in the way. 

Thalia nodded. “I get that. But I was thinking…”

“Yes?”

Bianca leaned forward in anticipation. Thalia had crazy plans but they were usually solid.

“The Eye of Metis. Zoë said it could see everything. Maybe we should find the Eye first, and it could help us find our way to Nico.”

Bianca didn’t like the idea of postponing saving her brother for some artifact. There was no telling how long they would spend searching for it or if they’d live afterwards; meanwhile, her little brother was out there somewhere.

But, Thalia did make sense.

If the Eye were easier to find, by all means it should lead them directly to him. It might be easier than navigating Ancient Greece on their own, not at all knowing what to expect. At least they knew where to start looking for the Eye of Metis.

“Okay,” Bianca relented eventually. “I trust you.”

“Good,” Thalia commented, smiling a smile of relief. Did she really think Bianca would tell her no? It’s not like it would matter if she did. Thalia was the leader of this quest _and_ her Lieutenant. Bianca would follow her into fire. Thalia fell back on the bed, her tall back resting against the wall. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

Uh-oh.

Bianca allowed herself to relax onto the small bed, frowning in discomfort. What had she expected? Ultimate comfort? Was this made of reeds?

“I’m listening,” she answered Thalia’s stare.

It was so intense she had to fight the urge to look away.

Thankfully, and she couldn’t believe she was thinking this, Annabeth entered the room, shaking out her hair with a thick cloth. “Thalia, the washroom is all yours.”

Thalia gave Bianca a look that clearly read: _We’ll get back to this._

Bianca didn’t know if she wanted to get back to it.

As soon as Thalia left the room to go wash up for the night, Annabeth plopped down on the bed, causing Bianca to bounce rather pathetically on its surface.

“Why don’t you like me?” Annabeth inquired, throwing Bianca for a loop. How could she just outright ask that without even blinking? It didn’t even sound like she really cared to know the answer. “You act weird around me. Everyone has noticed that.”

Bianca shrugged, a little too nervous to have this conversation. “I don’t dislike you.”

“Then you’re jealous,” Annabeth concluded easily.

Bianca’s cheeks flushed. She didn’t really enjoy being analyzed by possibly the smartest girl at Camp Half-Blood, which was saying something.

“Whatever,” Bianca mumbled, undoing her braid and brushing through her curly black hair with her fingers. She avoided making eye contact. Annabeth was the type of person who could pull everything out of someone just by narrowing her eyes.

“I’m not confronting you,” Annabeth said. “There’s no need to get upset. I…understand jealousy well. I’ve gotten jealous of you two a few times. That's my best friend, you know? And she always used to give me so much attention, especially when we were on the run.”

Wait, what?

Why would Annabeth—silky golden curls, startling gray eyes, perfect athletic body, literally great at everything—be jealous of her?

“Tell the truth,” Annabeth encouraged next, surprising an already bewildered Bianca. “Why?”

Bianca unlaced her boots, releasing a big breath. She wanted to fling them across the room, but she sat them pristinely at the foot of the cot.

“You won’t tell?” she asked, finally meeting Annabeth’s eyes. “Swear on the River Styx.” She did, causing the ground the rumble. Bianca sensed the river rushing below, churning angrily.

“I think…I think I like Thalia.”

Annabeth nodded easily. "I figured."

"Gods, is it that obvious?"

"Yeah," Annabeth admitted. "But don't worry. Percy and Thalia are incredibly obtuse."

"Thanks," Bianca released in a surprised breath. "I know you don't really have a reason to be nice to me."

"I've known Thalia for a long time," Annabeth excused. "Trust me, this isn't the first time I've dealt with a situation like this."

Bianca's brow furrowed. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Annabeth tilted her head slowly. She looked genuinely confused. "Thalia hasn't told you?"

"Told her what?"

They both looked to the door way and Bianca quickly averted her gaze when she noticed Thalia's distinct lack of clothing from the waist up.

"Nothing," Annabeth responded easily, and Bianca thought she would hate to play poker with her. "Put a shirt on."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Alright. But only because I'm making poor B shit herself."

Bianca scowled. Why did she like this girl again?


	4. Amazon, Yes Ma'am-azon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I like Bob's Burgers, so there's your chapter title.

The Amazon village was a whole different world. Even though it was on the same ground, surrounded by the same sea breeze-scented air, it was unlike Greece. For one, the village was bustling with women of all shapes, sizes, and ilk, all going about strenuous tasks, like they were preparing for war.

There was a particularly large group of warriors sparring one another—there were so many of them, Thalia didn’t understand how they weren’t getting confused. There seemed to be a method to their fighting, and it almost looked like a well-practiced dance routine.

One Amazon stood out above the rest, eyeing the others critically, studying them. Maybe she was training them. Her hair flew down in curly black ringlets, grazing her shoulders. She wore a two-piece outfit, which consisted of an armored bralette and battle skirt. A ornate mask hung ontop of her head, allowing those closest to her a glimpse her face. Thalia couldn’t see most of her, but she held herself beautifully. It almost reminded her of Artemis.

“That must be Hippolyta,” Bianca whispered next to her. “She holds herself like a queen.”

Thalia suddenly didn’t have any qualms about seducing the Amazon Queen.

“We should get out of the trees,” Bianca suggested.

Yeah, they were definitely hiding and spying on the Amazons. Thalia wasn’t sure what the reception was going to look like, and she wasn’t eager to have her breasts chopped off by a bunch of angry warriors.

“You know, we can’t actually get Hippolyta’s help unless we come down,” Bianca reasoned sarcastically. “What are you afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid of anything,” Thalia spat.

Besides, heights, commitment, and the elevator scene in _The Shining_.

Bianca snorted. “My father is the god of fear. You can’t lie to me, Thalia.”

Thalia was about to retaliate when they heard a loud WHOOSH!

She felt a sudden burning in her shoulder, and Bianca screamed in shock, ungracefully falling out of the tree. Thankfully, they weren’t up too high. Thalia winced and looked to the arrow protruding from her shoulder. She glared at the Amazon below them, but it was difficult to keep her eyes narrowed when she found her.

_WHOOSH!_

Another arrow.

Thalia caught that one inches from her face. “Stop!”

“We come in peace!” she heard Bianca yell faintly, just now pulling herself off the forest ground.

The Amazon looked surprised. Her eyes reminded Thalia of Bianca’s—a bold, fiery black, like the charred remains of a tree that had been destroyed by lightning.

She looked like the Amazon from before, except that her glossy black hair was tied tightly into a single braid that ran down her back, far past her shoulders. She also seemed a bit shorter, too, though her stature was by no means small.

Thalia grunted in pain, feeling her eyes sting as she reached the shaft of the arrow. It wasn’t the first time she had been wounded and it definitely wasn’t the worst, but that didn't mean that it felt good.

Thalia split her lip open when she muffled her pained shouts, and she waited until she stopped shaking to leap from her perch.

The Amazon raised her bow defensively.

“Not going to hurt you,” Thalia intercepted, raising her hands in surrender. Ow! She quickly lowered her hands, feeling the unhappy twinge in her throbbing shoulder. She knew blood had to be streaming down her back and chest. She gritted her teeth against the pain. She needed medical attention. “We’re Hunters of Artemis.”

The unintroduced Amazon cursed under her breath, strapping her bow to her back and rushing over. Thalia almost thought she was going to punch her in the face. She bent down and tossed Thalia over her shoulder, despite her physical and verbal protests, and sprinted to the nearest shack, Bianca in tow.  
Thalia hadn’t thought it possible for another person to pick her up, let alone run with her. The Amazons were something else.

The shack seemed to be an infirmary of sorts, but it was so pre-dated that Thalia was sure she would catch a staph infection.

“I have to remove this,” her attacker muttered, gesturing to the arrow.

Thalia nodded. She understood what had to be done.

The Amazon snapped off the head of the arrow, her face refusing to flinch even as Thalia yelped. That wasn’t even going to be the most painful part.

Thalia clenched her fists until they paled, making them look about a thousand times lighter than the rest of her. She braced herself as the shaft was tugged from her shoulder, and the arrow exited her body, leaving behind an angry, bleeding hole.

Bianca fussed over her wound, watching with distrust as the Amazon went to work, applying an herbal salve to the entry and bandaging it tightly. She whispered a hymn in a language Thalia didn’t recognize, but it caused her wound to glow brightly. When the glow disappeared, her pain was reduced to a dull ache.

“You bled a lot,” Bianca stated, pressing her hand to Thalia’s chest. She narrowed her eyes at the Amazon. Thalia held back a smile. Bianca was too tiny to be defending her honor. “Is she going to be okay?”

The Amazon nodded. “It was not a fatal injury. I was not aiming to kill. Just to incapacitate.”

Thalia smirked. “Gonna have to try harder than that, Glamazon.”

“I am Reyna,” the Amazon corrected in confusion. “Princess of the Amazons. Who is this Glamazon?”

“No one,” Thalia dismissed. “I’m Thalia.”

Reyna’s eyes were rather beautiful. Scary but beautiful. Like Bianca, although Thalia would never admit to her that she could be scary. Thalia found herself swimming in the dark pools of black. Swimming was never her thing, considering water was Poseidon’s domain and he would surely send a sea monster after her, so she knew any second now she would be drowning.

“Bianca,” the daughter of Hades introduced herself, interrupting their stare competition, crossing her arms over her chest. “We are here to see your queen.”

“You are friends of Hylla?” Reyna inquired suspiciously. “You were spying on our camp.”

“I’m glad I did,” Thalia argued. “If I hadn’t, I might’ve gotten twelve more arrows.”

“Wait,” Bianca shushed the irate daughter of Zeus. “Hylla? No, we’re here to see Hippolyta.”

Reyna’s face turned grim. She looked like she distrusted them even more, if that were possible. “Who sent you?”

“That’s a long story.”

“If you will not answer to me, you will answer to my sister,” Reyna spoke slowly. Even though the words weren’t very descriptive, they sounded like death threats tumbling from her rosy lips.

Thalia sighed. “Who is your sister?”

“Hylla,” Reyna responded hotly, as if Thalia should’ve already picked up on that already. “The Queen of the Amazons.”

“I thought Hippolyta was the queen.”

“Who sent you?” she asked again. It was obvious she wasn’t going to divulge any more information.

“Zoë Nightshade, Lieutenant to the Hunters of Artemis, told us we should ask Hippolyta about the Eye of Metis,” Bianca explained, much to Thalia’s annoyance. She was just going to trust the Amazons?

Reyna’s eyes widened. She cursed in Latin.

“What?” Thalia asked, confused.

“Hippolyta is dead.”

* * *

“Hippolyta was killed by your brother,” Queen Hylla revealed.

Jason?

“Heracles,” Reyna remarked in disgust. “He came under a guise of peace, and he made off with the Girdle of Ares.”

“The Girdle of Ares,” Bianca said with recognition. “It was given to Hippolyta as a reward. Mythomaniac is useful.”

“What did it do? Increase the player’s carry weight by 40?”

Reyna’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “The Girdle blesses its wearer with the ability to produce any weapon from its sheath. It was gifted to her by her father, Ares.”

Queen Hylla raised her hand to quiet Reyna, who looked a bit disgruntled by the gesture. “My sister tells me you need information about the Eye of Metis.”

Thalia nodded. “The Hunters told us it was something that Hippolyta studied.”

“Yes,” Hylla affirmed. She looked to carefully consider her next words, as if reluctant to speak them at all. “She did have…an understudy.”

Reyna stiffened. “Hylla, are you sure? The last time the Amazons helped a child of Zeus, it ended in the death of our queen.” She eyed Thalia warily, like she was expecting her to run them through with her spear.

Queen Hylla considered this. She turned her attention to Thalia and Bianca. “Swear this on the River Styx: you will not cause harm to any Amazon and you will protect them if necessary.”

“With my life,” Thalia promised immediately. “I swear it on the River Styx.”

The ground rumbled.

Bianca was the only one who didn’t react. Naturally. She probably took baths and raced tiny boats in the River Styx.

“Thank you,” Hylla said, motioning to her sister. “You will take Reyna with you on your quest. I expect her to be returned in good health.”

“She’s the understudy?” Bianca asked. She was just as distrusting of Reyna as Reyna was of the two of them. “How do we know she isn’t going to shoot Thalia again?”

Thalia laughed, but the Amazons didn’t look amused.

Reyna scowled. “You don’t.”

Oh, yeah, Thalia was going to like Reyna.

* * *

“You’re traveling with a man?” Reyna asked for a second time, her lips twisting into a snarl.

Thalia laughed. “I know, right?”

“Hey!” Percy cried, pointing his finger at them. “I’m sick of all this man hate!”

Reyna furrowed her brows, turning her head to look into Thalia’s eyes. “Do we have to speak to him?”

“You don’t,” Thalia assured. This seemed to satisfy the Amazon Princess. “Anyway, this is Annabeth.”

Annabeth raised a hand courageously, surprising Reyna with a warrior’s embrace—grasping her forearm and pulling her closer. “Daughter of Athena.”

“We sent you to go collect intel,” Percy said, and Thalia could tell he was full of himself—using words like _collect intel_. “And you come back with an Amazon. Are you trying to build an army?”

Reyna scowled at him for this comment, her finger twitching as if she were seconds away from unsheathing her dagger. Thalia squeezed her shoulder twice, receiving a suspicious glare for her efforts.

It wasn’t to comfort her, it was a warning and they both knew it—if Reyna attacked, Thalia would cut her down, even if Percy was annoying.

“Hippolyta is dead,” Thalia filled in sourly, easily ignoring the glare. “Yet another great female warrior fucked over by Heracles.”

“Dead?” Annabeth repeated, her eyes wide. “No, she wasn’t supposed to be dead.”

Reyna’s eyebrow arched of its own accord. “Oh, but she is. Slain by the Son of Zeus, tricked by his followers. They tried to steal the Girdle of Ares from her waist and when they failed, Heracles killed her in cold blood.”

Annabeth looked like she was losing her mind, or she was searching through millions of transcripts and documents in her head all within seconds. “This isn’t right.”

“What do you mean?” Percy asked. “Annabeth, are you sure?”

Her gray eyes pierced him. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Bianca pried, her interest piqued.

Reyna’s stance shifted, but her face remained blank, devoid of anything.

Thalia didn’t know what Annabeth was hinting at, but it appeared to have something to do with Reyna. Annabeth was eyeing her like she was a dissected creature and she was trying to figure out the cause of death.

“Nothing,” Annabeth said eventually, although her eyes said _we’re talking about this later, Thalia!_ She turned her steely gaze to Reyna. “Where do we start looking?”

“I do not know where the Eye is exactly,” Reyna began, slipping off her pack and sifting through the leather bag until she found a crisp papyrus. She unrolled it. Another map, similar to the one Zoe had given them, but this one had strange markings—Amazon markings, probably. “This map will tell us where to start. It belonged to Hippolyta. She said when the time came, I would know it.”

Her eyes met Thalia’s.

“You are the hero I saw,” Reyna remarked. “You were in my dreams.”

Percy suggestively waggled his eyebrows at her, and Thalia tried not to punch him in the throat this time.

“What do you mean?” Bianca asked. “You had a prophetic dream?”

Reyna nodded gravely. Apparently, it had been more of a nightmare than a dream. “Thalia was in the water—”

“So, it was a wet dream?”

Percy clutched his throat, choking more on his own laughter than the pain from Thalia’s punch. She didn’t want to hit him too hard, after all. They still needed him.

“Sorry,” he apologized when Annabeth fixed her disappointed scowl on him. Bianca looked like she was going to punch him harder than Thalia did, if she could have reached his neck anyway. “Son of Poseidon, all about the wet dreams.”

Reyna smirked, obviously pleased with Thalia’s actions. “Where you were…it looked familiar. It was the caves of—”

“Argh!”

The caves of Argh?

A large man barreled towards them, smelling very similar to the stables at camp after Percy had been slacking for a good month.

Percy was the first to react. He drew Riptide and charged, sliding to hack the warrior off at his knees. When his sword didn’t past through, and instead materialized on the other side of their attacker, he cursed.

“It’s Celestial bronze,” Annabeth lectured. “You can’t use it on mortals.”

Thalia tossed Percy one of her hunting knives and watched as Bianca scaled the man’s body like a monkey, twisting and snapping his neck with her legs.

Thalia whistled appreciatively, drawing her own knife and spinning it, locking eyes with bright eyes stalking them from the shrubbery.

“There’s more of them,” Reyna stated, drawing a weapon of her own—a pilum.

“Who are they?” Percy panted, wiping his bloody palms on the thighs of his jeans. “I’ve never been almost killed by a mortal before. Gods, Titans, harpies, other angry demigods with daddy issues? Sure.”

Thalia didn’t want to think about who he meant by that. It could have been anyone—Clarisse, Annabeth, Nico, herself, or…Luke.

“Warlords rule Greece,” Reyna informed spitefully. “Disgusting men take our land, raid peaceful villages, and take young women and children as slaves.”

“That’s terrible!” Bianca exclaimed. “And they get away with this?”

“Let’s call the cops,” Percy deadpanned.

“There are no cops,” Annabeth retaliated, rolling her eyes. “This is Ancient Greece, Percy.”

“All they have is goats,” Bianca agreed.

Percy shrugged, looking to Thalia. She knew he was back on his bullshit before he opened his mouth. “Your dad is like a cop. Like the cop of the universe. Text him.”

“And you’re like the idiot of the universe,” Thalia retorted with a fierce scowl. “Gods, why did you even come with us?”

“You asked me to!”

Thalia saw some minions charging out of the brush, but she was too angry to focus on the impending fight.

“Are you sure you heard the question right?” She mindlessly dropkicked one of them, knocking him onto his back.

“Practically begged me.” Percy flung the hunting knife she had given him into the fallen minion’s throat. He put his boot on the still chest, kicking out as he retrieved the bloody knife.

“You are the stupidest—” Thalia felt tiny parks coursing up her fingers. Her boot broke a couple ribs, and her fist came back up for a jaw, causing dirty, matted hairs to jump off their scalp from the shock.

“I’m Thalia,” Percy mocked, waving his hands around, the hunting knife slashing through the air with the dramatic motion, splitting open an unsuspecting chest. “Punk’s not dead but my dream are.”

“I’m Percy, I don’t know what deodorant is and I’m trying to break the world record for stupidest haircut!”

“The bandits are dead.” They both looked at Reyna in surprise, having been preoccupied by their heated toddler fight. She wiped blood from her brow. “We need to start moving.”

Thalia scowled, glancing around at the carnage. Had she and Percy really done that? She was angry, mostly at herself but definitely at Percy, for allowing herself to get so distracted. What if they would’ve clipped one of their companions?

 _You had it under control_ , she assured herself. She wasn’t the daughter of Zeus for nothing. She had been paying some amount of attention, after all—her ADHD came in handy with the fight.

“On to the caves of Argh, then,” Bianca said, following their Amazon guide.

When Thalia looked like she was about to stay behind so no one would see her bash Percy’s seaweed brains in, Bianca gripped her by the sleeve of her leather jacket and tugged her along.

“I know what deodorant is,” Percy grumbled to Annabeth.

“Do you wear it?”

Thalia laughed openly at her response.

“I don’t know what you’re laughing at, Thals,” Annabeth shot off. “You don't smell so great right now, either.”

“Well, point me to the closest shower, Wise Girl,” Thalia replied sarcastically. “You are the meanest girl I know. Who raised you?”

“You did, Dad.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

Thalia heard Percy choke on air, and honestly, she almost did so herself. Bianca’s face twisted in annoyance. Reyna didn’t seem to get it, not that Thalia expected her to, but the corners of her lips twitched mirthfully.

Percy rolled his sea-green eyes. Ugh, he made Thalia want to vomit sometimes. If she had to hear Annabeth mention them one more time, she was going to move to another country. “Well, what’s the game plan, Daddy?”

“Ew!”

“Percy!" 

Reyna cleared her throat, breaking into their laughter. “The Amazons have allies in the next village. The innkeeper will help us secure passage to the caves. You have drachmas, yes?”

Percy nodded. “We can make it rain.”

“Daughter of Zeus,” Reyna warned slowly. “Do not make it rain.”

Thalia ignored Percy’s laughter. “I won’t,” she answered. “It’s just an expression, Reyna. It means to throw drachmas at someone that’s…like, taking their clothes off.”

“So,” Annabeth changed the subject, sidling next to Reyna. “How long have you been with the Amazons? What’s your story?”

Reyna looked like she trusted Annabeth about as far as she could throw her. On second thought, that was probably pretty far. Reyna looked very athletic. “For a while.”

Thalia didn’t understand why Annabeth was being so persistent. She was always a nosy, little inquisitive brat, but she usually let the subject drop.

“How many years does a while equate to?”

Reyna ignored the question.

“You don’t look like you’re from Greece.”

“You can’t just tell people they don’t look like they’re from Greece,” Percy reprimanded her in a hushed whisper.

“Annabeth…” Thalia started, noticing the challenge in her eyes.

“Thalia,” Reyna’s voice almost purred her name. “It is fine. I am not from Greece, Annabeth. I hail from the land of the great lord, Boriken. Are you familiar with it?”

Annabeth tightened her jaw, but her gray eyes gleamed with something unrecognizable. She spared Thalia a warning glance. “Of course, I’m familiar with it.”

“Ah, yes, Daughter of Athena,” Reyna remembered. Her face was heavily guarded with mental machine guns and laser turrets. “My sister and I traveled here by ship.”

“What was the name of the ship?”

Reyna’s shoulders stiffened and then rolled back, as if shrugging off the sound of Annabeth’s voice entirely. “We are nearing Thebes. You’re going to want to keep your hands close to your coin purses.”

“So it’s like hanging out with Connor and Travis,” Percy concluded. “Or Thalia.”

Thalia sighed. “Your wallet didn’t have anything in it but a picture of Annabeth and a GameStop gift card that only had 36 cents left on it. Don’t sound so hurt.”

Percy scowled. “You still used it.”

“Do they always bicker this much?” Reyna asked Bianca, recognizing her as the only semi-friendly spirit of the group.

Bianca reddened a little—what was that about? —but released an exaggerated breath. “You have no idea. Usually, the fights don’t happen this frequently. I think it’s something in the air.”

Thalia understood it was a joke, but she felt Bianca was right. There was something weird. When Reyna joined them on the quest, a feeling of uneasiness washed over them. She wanted to trust the Amazon—she was a brilliant fighter, almost too good to be mortal, and even though she wasn’t friendly she seemed trustworthy—but the look she had seen in Annabeth’s eyes was keeping her at bay. Her friend didn’t overreact for nothing.

Thalia trailed behind with Annabeth, who silenced her with a look before she even began speaking.

“Later?” Thalia grumbled.

Annabeth nodded. “It’s inconclusive.”

Reyna stopped short. Thalia nearly tumbled into her.

They were suddenly in a clearing with no trees, but the dead grass was littered with debris—mostly ashes, but there were some cracked trees and rundown shacks for good measure.

“No,” Reyna whispered. “It can’t be.”

“What?’ Percy asked. “What happened here?”

“This was Thebes,” Annabeth muttered understandingly. “They burnt it to the ground, didn’t they? Those bastards we ran into in the forest.”

Reyna’s neck flushed and her hand flexed around the shaft of her pilum as she navigated through the ruins.

“Warlords only burn a village for one reason,” the Amazon explained, her eyes scanning for survivors. “If they already took everything from it.”

“Well, we killed them, right?” Bianca asked openly. “Do you want me to summon their spirits so we can kill them again?”

Thalia grimaced. It always freaked her out to watch Bianca do that.

“There are more of them,” Reyna said sternly. “Those were just henchmen. This is the work of Alcaeus.”

Thalia flinched at the mention of her birthname. She relaxed when Annabeth smiled at her.

“The mortal brother of Heracles,” she went on to further explain. “He was among Heracles’ followers, before he broke off on his own. He is cruel and despises the gods, all except for Ares.”

“We can find him,” Percy said, determined. “We can destroy his army.”

“We have a quest,” Bianca argued. “Has everyone forgotten the real focus here? Nico is missing, and the prophecy doesn’t say anything about Alcaeus.”

“Nico?” Reyna’s head quirked to the side. “The Son of Hades?”

“Yes!” Bianca jumped at the sound of her brother's name. “You’ve seen him? He’s my little brother. He got sent back in time without us and—” She stopped herself when she saw the way Reyna flinched. “…Oh, gods, what?”

“Alcaeus and his army take prisoners,” Reyna explained reluctantly. “One of our guards escorted Nico to Thebes, because he was not allowed to set foot in Amazon territory.”

“Oh, gods.” Bianca’s knees buckled.

“B!” Thalia stepped forward and caught her easily. “He’s okay, Bianca. We’re going to find him.” She looked at Reyna. “You said he takes prisoners? That means Nico is still alive.”

Reyna nodded. “It is possible. He is young, so he will likely be sold as a stable hand.”

“Nico with horses?” Percy clarified. “No, thank you. Where can we find Alcaeus and his men?”

“They never camp far from their raids,” Reyna advised. “I will scout them.”

“I’ll go with you,” Thalia remarked, leaving no room for argument.

Reyna nodded her approval anyways. Her eyes met Annabeth’s. “You should set up camp here for the night. Lightning never strikes the same place twice.”


End file.
